Comparison/Contrast of Castellanos, Ihimaera, and Wideman’s Short Stories

Comparison/Contrast: Castellanos, Ihimaera, and Wideman’s Short Stories
Name
Course
Professor
Comparison/Contrast: Castellanos, Ihimaera, and Wideman’s Short Stories
      Stories are usually a great source of rich history as they have been used to pass cultural beliefs from one generation to another, thereby preserving culture. Through short stories, people quickly understand the message that the author is conveying without committing too much time to the story. The short stories "Death of the Tiger" by Rosario Castellanos, "Presents" by John Edgar Wideman, and "His First Ball" by Witi Ihimaera explore the plight of minority groups across different eras and countries. The authors quickly bring their characters to life and can narrate the experiences of minority communities through a simple plot. While the three stories use concise narrative to explore the same theme by describing the experiences of the respective minority communities, there are three main differences identified in terms of the narrative technique, the variety of English, and the author's characterization to highlight the plight of their characters.
Narrative Technique
The first point of discussion will be the narrative technique used by the three authors. Castellanos uses the third-person narrative technique to convey her message. The events described in the story do not occur to her, and as such, she can maintain her objectivity while telling the story. According to Alami (2016), third-person narration can either be external or internal. Castellanos uses an internal third-person point of view by telling the stories as an outsider and illuminating what the characters are feeling or thinking. For instance, she shows the reader what the Bolometic, her main characters in the story, felt when Don Juvencio asked them personal questions. Castellanos posits that they "listened with ever-growing anguish" (Castellanos, p.844). This statement reports the actions of the characters (listening) and explains how they were feeling (anguished) as they went through the motions of the day. Likewise, Ihimaera utilizes the third-person narrative to tell the story and bring his characters to life. He is not directly involved in the story, but he allows his readers to look into the characters and see what is happening in their lives. He also uses internal third-person narration to explain to the readers the emotions and thoughts of the characters. For instance, Ihimaera describes Tuta's experience at the ball as an embarrassing one. He indicates that despite his efforts to avoid being the center of attraction, Tuta attracted more attention to himself at the ball. As a result, he "became more embarrassed" (Ihimaera, p.458). He also became aware that being the only Maori at the ball, he was probably being mocked, which made him more uncomfortable. Through this internal third-person narration, the readers become aware of Tuta's actions and inner struggles at the ball.
In contrast, Wideman utilizes a combination of first-person and third-person narratives. In first-person narratives, the story is being told by the characters (Alami, 2016). At the beginning of the story, the main character narrates what Big Mama was saying to him. "Oh yes, and I did not know what she was yessing any more than I know how her voice…" (Wideman, p.1083). Through this technique, the readers get first-hand information and insight into the mind of the narrator. However, Wideman switches up the narration midway and starts using the third-person narration. The readers now get to understand the character's plight through the eyes of an outside narrator. However, unlike the third-person narration in Castellanos and Ihimaera stories, Wideman does not utilize the internal third-person narration.
Variety of English
           The second point of discussion is the variations of English used by the three authors. In Presents, Wideman relies heavily on African-American Vernacular English. It is a different variety from Standard English in terms of the vocabulary used and the grammatical features. According to Voloshina and Fisunova (2019), the different English variations used by different sub-cultures worldwide stem from the fact that different people have individual linguistic and cultural experiences. Nevertheless, more importantly, different English variations mark the cultural identity of the community that is being discussed. For instance, Wideman uses African-American vernacular English when writing about the conversation between the two main characters in his story. About the boy learning how to play the guitar, the author writes, "Then one day it gon sound good. Gon slide loose easy…" (Wideman, p.1085). In Standard English, this sentence would have been, "Then one day it is going to sound good. It is going to slide loose easy…" By replacing the terms "it is going to" with "gon," the author is trying to preserve the cultural identity of his characters.
The author tells a story about the struggles of a young black boy and how he grows as an artist, just like the grandmother had predicted. Wideman's English variation is specific to African-American, and readers can learn about the cultural background of the characters just by observing the variation in language. Similarly, Ihimaera uses a different variation of English, which is specific to his characters. Even though he uses Standard English in most of his writing, he captures some of his characters' cultural identities using non-standard English. For instance, in a conversation between Tuta and Coral, Coral says, "If you ore going past Government Howse please convey may regard to…" (Ihimaera, p. 452). Notice how the words, such as house and convey, are misspelled. The author is trying to capture his character's dialect by spelling the words exactly how the characters are pronouncing them. Also, using this variation of English is used to portray that the characters are from a minority community.
           Meanwhile, Castellanos does not utilize any form of non-standard English in her writing. Even though she is also highlighting the plight of a minority community (the Bolometic tribe), she uses Standard English throughout the story, even when capturing the conversations between characters. However, it is worth noting that by using Standard English, she is making her work more accessible and understandable by everyone, including people who are unfamiliar with non-standard varieties of English. It does not mean that Wideman and Ihimaera's writings are inaccessible; it only means that their work perhaps has a specific target audience. As revealed by Voloshina and Fisunova (2019), writers adapt their writing based on their target audience.
Characterization
      &nb...